Lothar Wieler, Germany’s top disease control official, has warned the world to prepare for the second and third waves of coronavirus infections.
“This is a pandemic. And in a pandemic, this virus will cause disease until 60 to 70 per cent of the population is infected,” Dpa quoted him as saying on Tuesday.
Wieler, the head of German’s Robert Koch Institute, spoke to journalists in Berlin.
According to him, a second wave will come “with great certainty”.
He noted that the majority of experts shared the belief, and that many also expected a third wave.
In four months, 3.7 million cases of COVID-19 have been recorded.
Coronavirus has also caused 255,000 deaths worldwide.
The current figures are alarming as the number of cases and deaths were less than half as of April 10 – just over three weeks ago.
On January 11, China announced the first death officially recorded.
The deceased was a 61-year-old man who had purchased goods from the seafood market.
Nigeria has 2,802 confirmed cases and a death toll of 93.